Toothbrush holder



Nov. 9 1926.

H. GILES TOOTHBRUSH HOLDER Filed Oct. 15,-1925 IN VENTOR I QAM A6 4 TTORNEY 2%; "Wit Patented Nov. 9, 1925.

HARVEY GILES, or Bnoo L m EwYoR Q TOOTH-BRUSH. HoLnEa.

Application filed October 15, 1923. Serial No." 6 68 ,49 1.

special compartment of the-fixture so that the same" may be protected against dust and the like and at the same time be capable: of

inspection through the Walls of the compartment. The fixture may be equipped with one or a number of the'compartments, and preferably the frame" of. the fixture will bear initials at the several compartments'thereof as means for identifying the individual tooth brushes of the members of a family. The compartments for the individual brushes are preferably each in the form of an integral inverted glass cup vertically mounted, and the. frame forthe glass cups comprises a supporting base-plate, a bracket member connected therewith and-to be secured against the wall and an upper member secured to theupper end of said bracketand extending forwardly to engage the closed upper end of the cup or cups, said upper member preferably being of thin sheet phosphor bronze and having an opening to receive the'co'nvexendfofthecup 'or a plurality of such openingsto engage. the upper ends of the cups when more than one cup is made use of, said upper member serving to retain the cup or cups on the base-plate and to permit said cup or cups to be removed whenever it may be necessary to clean the same. The upper member of the cup holding'frame is of thin spring metal and has a tension downwardly against the upper closed end or ends of the cup or cups for the purpose of detachably retaining the same in firm position and at the same time permit thecup' or cups to be forced outwardly from and returned to the supporting frame Whenever occasion should render that'course desirable. The base frame is formed with a depressed annular socket open at its central portions and supporting a cup-shaped rubber disk having in its bottom a central opening, with slots radiating therefrom, and at its edges an upstanding annular flange closely fitting against the vertical sides of said socket, and within this socket lined with said rubber disk, is seated the inverted glass cup. The head ofa toothbrush may be forced upwardly through the rubber disk so that the bristles Will'be within the cup and the handle hang therefrom, the brush beingsupported upon the rubber disk.

[lie surroundingiflange of the rubber diskencompasses the lower edges of the glasscup and aids in centering the cup and inavoiding fracture of the lower-edges thereof.

The'object of my invention is to provide an attractive andflcomparatively inexpensive brush-holder or appliance for bath-rooms and like places, and especially a brush-holder whose parts are assembled without the use of screws; and in which the, compartments:

for the brushes may be applied to: and re moved from the holding; frame without detaching any portion of the frame. p The invention will be fully understood from the detailed description hereinafter presented, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, inwhich Fig. 1 is a central vertical section through.

a toothbrush holder constructed in accordance with and embodying the invention, a

.tooth brush being shownin position in th'e glass cup portion of theholder', and the sec-" tion being taken on the dotted line '1'1 of: F-ig.2;'

Fig. 2 is afront elevationofthe. same; Fig. 3 is a top planview of the same; Fig. at is a transverse. section. through. the same, taken on thedotted line 4- '41of:-Fig;.2-; Fig; 5 is. a detached perspective: view of the rubber cup-like: disk: forming a. seat 'fo'r. the lower edges ofthegl'ass cup;

Fig. 6is=a front elevation of a tooth-brush holder embodying my invention employing two glass cup compartments instead. ofi'the. Oneglass cup compartmentpresented in the construction 1 shown in Figs.- 1 to 5 inclusive,

and V Fig: 7 is atop plan view of the same. In the drawings, referring" to Figs 1. to 4' inclusive, 1O designates aninverted glass cup. compartment for the tooth brush, and 11; the ,supporting. frame for .thesame, this' frame comprising. a-base-member 12', a vertical bracket, member 13 to be fastened to the-wall of a roomandan upper: member. 14: formed from a thin sheet ofphosphor bronze and having in its outer portion an opening 15 of a size to .receive a portion of the upper convexend of the cup 10,asshown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, while at. the" same time the metal off the member 14: surrounding the opening 15 engageswith a spring pressure the upper 'end of the cup. 10 so as to hold the cup down upon the lower member 12. The members'lZ, 13 of the frame will preferably be formed in. one piece of sheet 20 and lo'weredges of the cup 10.

of the socket 19 is open, as at 21, so as to. permit the tooth-brush to be;

aluminum, andthe upper member 14 will preferably be secured to the upper end of the member 11 by an upturned lip 16 at the inner end of the member 14 and'a turnedover lip 17 at the upper end of the member 13 and embracing said lip 16, whereby the lip 16 on the member 14 becomes pinched between the lip 17 and the upper end of the member 13, as shown in Fig. l. The lip 16 on the bronze member. 14 will preferably have two small indentures 18 forming prongs, whichwill enter the softer metal of thememberll and thereby aid in rigidly securing the member 14 in position. The base-member 1-2 of the frame 11 is substantially horizontal and at right angles to the member 13 thereof, and said member 12 is recessed downwardly along a circular line, asat '19, to form a socket'for the rubber disk The base pushed upwardly therethrough. I p p The rubber disk. 20 is circular in outline and has an upstandingfannular flange 22, and said disk has in its bottom an opening 23, from wiich the disk is slitted radially,

as at 24. Tue CLlSlCQQ closely fits within the socket 19 of the frame member 12, the base 519, of the disk fitting upon the solid walls of the bottom of the socket 19 and the flange 22 of the disk closely fitting against the-inner side walls of said socket, as shown in Fig. l.

. The glass cup has anopen bottom and a rounded or convexed upper closed end, and the lower edges of the open bottom of the cup .10 closely fit withinthe flange 22 of the disk and seat upon said disk around the lower edges of said flange, whereby the lower end ofthe cup 10 becomes not only securely held, but protected against fracture by. any careless handling of the cup. The. rubber disk" forms a packing fully encompassing the lower edges of the cup 10. The height of the cup 10 is such that whenthe. cup is seated in the lower mem ber 12 of the holder, the upper member 14 .of said holder will press the same downwardlywith a spring pressure against said member. 12 thereby maintaining the cup 10 firmly in position, at this time the up wardly convexed or reduced end of the cup 10.. being projected through the opening 15 in the upper member 14, as. shown in Figs. 1 and 2. lVhen it isdesired to remove the cup 10 from the holder, the upper side portions of the cup may be taken hold of between the thumb and fingers of the hand and tilted from under the upper member 14 and lifted from the member 12, the smooth upper end of the cup during the removal operation sliding under and fiexing'upwardly the member 14 and acting as a cam-surface against the edges of the opening 15 in the member 14. I preferably form the upper member of thin sheet phosphor bronze, because this metal affords a spring and is very strong and durable and may be flexed upwardly by the insertion and removal of the cup 10 a great many times without becoming prejudicially affected. 7

In Figs. 6 and 7 I illustrate a modification of my invention in that the size of the holder is enlarged to receive a plurality of the cups 10. 1 in F 6 and 7 the holder is numbered as a whole and comprises a base-member 31, a bracket member-32 and an upper phosphor bronze spring plate member 33, these parts corresponding with theholder shown in Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive withthe exception that the base member 31 has two of sockets for the lower ends of the two cups 10 and that the upper member 83 is formed with two'arms 34, 35. having openings corresponding with the opening 15 in the holder shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 to receive the upper convex ends of the cups 10. The holder of my invention whether adapted for one toothbrush or a plurality of tooth brushes will have the same features of construction specifically shown in Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive, and therefore further detailed description of the holder shown in Figs. 6 and 7 is unnecessary. I may form the holder with. provision for three, four or more cups 10, but the holding means for each cup'will be the same as that shown in the drawings. When I provide a base plate 31 for a plurality of cups 10 I will form lips 37 thereon to bear initials or other marks identifying the owners of the brushes contained in the respective cups 10, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7.

It will be seen that the holder comprises few durable parts and that without the use of screws or the like the cups 10 ma be applied to and removed from position whenever it may be desired to do so. The cups will be formed of reasonably thick glass, celluloid or other suitable material, so that they will not readily become fractured or otherwise injured by careless han dling, and as hereinbefore described the lower free edges of the cups are protected by the cup-disk 20. One of the important features of the invention resides in the fact that the cup is spring pressed between its upper and lower ends and is removable on the flexing of the springmember 14 by the movement against the same of .the upper reduced end of the cup. The holder is one of simple construction, but very desirable on account of its efiiciency and neat appearance, and also because it may be constructed at small cost and sold at a minimum price.

The cups 1O constitute tubular containers for the heads of the brushes, and my inven tion is not limited in every respect to the, form of the upper end of these'containers,

since I am aware that the shape of the upper ends of the containers 10 may be modified without departing from the invention as claimed. The upper ends of the tubular containers 10 will, by preference, be wholly closed and I would regard such ends as closed even though they might contain a small vent hole 9. .My experience is that the vent hole 9 is practically useless, but

some others might prefer to use the Vent hole and also to utilize such a hole as a means for alleging a departure from my invention.

l/Vhat I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters-Patent, is:

tom and side portions and being radially slit, said socket and disk receiving the sides and edge of the lower end of said container and permitting the head of the brush to be thrust up through them to enter the container. i

2. In a tooth-brush holder, the combination with a base member having a centrally apertured depressed socket, and'a yieldable clamping member opposed to said socket, oi a tubular containerremovably. held between the base and clamping member, said container having a convex "upper end received in an aperture in the yieldable clamping member, the lower end of the container being open and disposed within the depressed socket, and a cup rubber disk lin ing the annular bottom and side-walls of the socket to prevent fracture of the container" when it is tilted for removal ortinsertion,

said rubber disk being radially slit to permit the head of a tooth-brush to. be passed therethrough. 1

Signed at New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 7 13th day of October, A. 1923.

1 HARVEYGILES. V 

